ACTSI Partners: Emory Prevention Research Center and Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center Honored for Commitment to Community
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Research Center’s National Community Committee presented the Emory Prevention Research Center (EPRC) and the Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center (MSM PRC) with Best Practice Awards in Community-Based Participatory Research at the 2011 CDC PRC Annual Program Meeting on April 12, 2011. The two Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute Community Engagement & Research Program partners were two of eleven award recipients from among the thirty-seven PRCs across the country. Awardees were selected through a competitive application and review process. The accolade recognizes and encourages the use of community-based participatory research principles and practices in the PRCs’ research projects, including active and formal involvement of community partners in research project design, implementation, and dissemination.
The EPRC focuses on strategies to make rural home and community environments more supportive of cancer prevention behaviors, including physical activity and healthy eating. Its primary partner is the Southwest Georgia Cancer Coalition, which is based in Albany, GA and defines a 31-county rural region as its service area. Guided by an active Community Advisory Board, the EPRC has adopted this same region as its primary community partner.
The EPRC and its southwest Georgia partners have been honored previously for their successful collaboration. In 2010, the EPRC received a Community Partnership Engagement Award, which was a prerequisite for the current recognition.
“This award is very special to us, because it recognizes not only our efforts but also the strong commitment of our partners in southwest Georgia,” says EPRC Director Dr. Michelle Kegler. “For a research center, to be honored by community leaders demonstrates that our efforts to engage community members are meaningful. This award is a tribute to our Community Advisory Board members, who have been so passionate about guiding us in designing research projects and programs that are relevant and address priority health concerns in southwest Georgia.”
The MSM PRC partners with four Neighborhood Planning Units in southeast Atlanta, comprising 29 distinct neighborhoods with a combined population of about 90,000. The center is governed by a neighborhood-majority, Community Coalition Board with seats for academic, public agency, and neighborhood organization representatives. Its research initiatives are focused on the prevention of AIDS, cancer, violence, drug abuse, and other community-priority health problems.
For over a decade, MSM PRC has been recognized nationally and locally as a leader in effectively engaging communities. In 2002, the MSM PRC was presented an award from the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, a national organization representing academic-community partnerships, honoring the center’s community partnership’s “exemplary contribution towards improving health professions education, civic responsibility, and the overall health of communities.” In 2004, the MSM PRC won the Award for Excellence in Community-Based Research from the CDC at the PRC Program’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in San Francisco. The MSM PRC was the recipient of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation’s 2010 Joseph D. Greene Community Service Award for “continued extraordinary commitment to improving the quality of health and healthcare of those it serves” and the PRC National Community Committee also gave the MSM PRC the predecessor to this year’s award in 2010 – the Award for Effective Implementation of Community-Based Participatory Research.
“The overriding goal for the MSM Prevention Research Center has always been to model the appropriate conduct of research in minority and underserved communities,” said the center’s Principal Investigator, Daniel S. Blumenthal, MD, MPH. “This award helps validate the achievement of that goal.”